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JohnCatholic25
Guest
Is is a sin to read books with bits of sin contained within them ?. For example a history book in which the historian makes sinful and immoral comments yet the overall book is on a historical topic .
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edward_george
Guest
If it is, then there’s quite a lot of books we’d never be able to read. Like the Bible. Plenty of sins depicted in there, lots of violence too.
St Paul says “test everything, hold on to what is good.” It all depends on what you’re reading it for, of course. If you’re reading material just to be titillated by it, that would at least be a near occasion to sin. But generally speaking, if we avoided works containing mention of sin or depictions thereof or statements that the making of which might have been a sin on the part of the one making them, we’d never read anything or watch anything or listen to any music. It’s not like sin is a bacterial infection that we can incur by touch contact. Sin is an act of the will.
-Fr ACEGC
St Paul says “test everything, hold on to what is good.” It all depends on what you’re reading it for, of course. If you’re reading material just to be titillated by it, that would at least be a near occasion to sin. But generally speaking, if we avoided works containing mention of sin or depictions thereof or statements that the making of which might have been a sin on the part of the one making them, we’d never read anything or watch anything or listen to any music. It’s not like sin is a bacterial infection that we can incur by touch contact. Sin is an act of the will.
-Fr ACEGC
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JohnCatholic25
Guest
Could one still read books in which bits are thoroughly sinful , ie if a historian attacks the Church in parts of a book or makes other sinful comments? I am reading a history book in which the author makes several comments which would break the sixth Commandment and are sinful yet the overall book is just a history book.
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Vico
Guest
You have to decide for yourself, if you think you may begin to believe the untruth which would shake your faith. From the Catechism:
2088 The first commandment requires us to nourish and protect our faith with prudence and vigilance, and to reject everything that is opposed to it. There are various ways of sinning against faith:
Voluntary doubt about the faith disregards or refuses to hold as true what God has revealed and the Church proposes for belief. Involuntary doubt refers to hesitation in believing, difficulty in overcoming objections connected with the faith, or also anxiety aroused by its obscurity. If deliberately cultivated doubt can lead to spiritual blindness.
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Jestersage
Guest
It’s kind of like going into a bar. For some people it’s near occasional of sin and thus a sin itself. for others it was just a bar.
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Hoosier_Daddy
Guest
You mean like the books in the Bible?
Or classics like Twain, Shakespeare, Hemingway, etc…?
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DaveBj
Guest
I was going to respond, but this comment is miles better than anything I would have written, so I’ll just say . . .
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Tis_Bearself
Patron
Spot on. It depends on whether the book is going to shake your faith or influence you to commit a sin. If your conscience tells you not to read the book because it’s putting dirty thoughts in your head or whatever, don’t read it. Somebody else might be able to read it and just ignore or not be bothered by the same sections that bother you.
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pianistclare
Guest
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truetofaith
Guest
Many books catch you by surprise! You start reading an interesting novel…then they throw you into a sex scene. You can skip through it, but sometimes the parties say something to each other that is important to the plot.
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Jestersage
Guest
Well, I noticed you mentioned about " a history book in which the historian makes sinful and immoral comments yet the overall book is on a historical topic."
Is it a history book written by a well known historian? Is the sinful parts relevant to the history? Why is it relevant? How is it described?
In regards to history, sometimes it is not avoidable, since unfortunately, our history is one where inchaste is considered good, even considered “good” to the False God. All history does. Anicent Middle East. Roman Empire. China all the way up to Republic era. Or comments that blaspheme against God, especially among Primary Sources. Violence and Sex is interwoven in history and the culture.
Something similar is biology – in fact, it’s even closer. So are they sinful then?
However, if those stuff does entice you, then the issue is not so much as the book is sinful, but why you consider it sinful. In the matters related to chaste, why does it entice you?
Is it a history book written by a well known historian? Is the sinful parts relevant to the history? Why is it relevant? How is it described?
In regards to history, sometimes it is not avoidable, since unfortunately, our history is one where inchaste is considered good, even considered “good” to the False God. All history does. Anicent Middle East. Roman Empire. China all the way up to Republic era. Or comments that blaspheme against God, especially among Primary Sources. Violence and Sex is interwoven in history and the culture.
Something similar is biology – in fact, it’s even closer. So are they sinful then?
However, if those stuff does entice you, then the issue is not so much as the book is sinful, but why you consider it sinful. In the matters related to chaste, why does it entice you?
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JohnCatholic25
Guest
The historian makes several unnecessary comments in the book, at one time speaking positively of the immoral behaviour of people who committed sins against the Sixth Commandment .
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Tarpeian_Rock
Guest
As does our news media, every single day. But I’m unaware of a call for Catholics to stop reading / listening to (what passes for) the news.
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Hoosier_Daddy
Guest
Why do you think it’s sinful?
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JohnCatholic25
Guest
I’m just asking if it is a sin to read books with sin in them. In the book in question the historian makes many serious sinful comments ,some suggestive in a particularly heinous way. The book itself is primarily concerned with just the historical topic. I don’t know whether it is a sin to read it, taking into account that the Church had previously compiled a list of forbidden books due to them containing sin.
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edward_george
Guest
That wasn’t why the Index existed, and books ended up on it for a variety of reasons. St Faustina’s diary was on it for a time. And how would you know a book contained sin unless you first read it? As I said before, sin isn’t a bacterial infection you pick up by contact. It’s an act of the will. Some people can read books that contain things that might lead to sin without choosing to act on them. Some can’t. But no one can sin by accident.
-Fr ACEGC
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exnihilo
Guest
If that is so then the historian has strayed from just being a historian in his work. Depending on the work and time this may indicate he fails to meet standards for good scholarship. While that doesn’t address your topic it may cloud his work.
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JohnCatholic25
Guest
So as long as one does not agree with an author’s sin and is not putting oneself in an occasion to sin a person can read these books? Unfortunately I was reading the book without knowing properly that it was ok to read books as long as one does not create an occasion to sin.
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Vico
Guest
Baltimore Catechism* differentiates between voluntary near occasions and others.
Q. 773. Is a person who is determined to avoid the sin, but who is unwilling to give up its near occasion when it is possible to do so, rightly disposed for confession?
A. A person who is determined to avoid the sin, but who is unwilling to give up its near occasion when it is possible to do so, is not rightly disposed for confession, and he will not be absolved if he makes known to the priest the true state of his conscience.
Q. 774. How many kinds of occasions of sin are there?
A. There are four kinds of occasions of sin:
*]Near occasions, through which we always fall;
*]Remote occasions, through which we sometimes fall;
*]Voluntary occasions or those we can avoid; and
*]Involuntary occasions or those we cannot avoid.
A person who lives in a near and voluntary occasion of sin need not expect forgiveness while he continues in that state.
Q. 775. What persons, places and things are usually occasions of sin?
A.- *]The persons who are occasions of sin are all those in whose company we sin, whether they be bad of themselves or bad only while in our company, in which case we also become occasions of sin for them;
*]The places are usually liquor saloons, low theaters, indecent dances, entertainments, amusements, exhibitions, and all immoral resorts of any kind, whether we sin in them or not;
*]The things are all bad books, indecent pictures, songs, jokes and the like, even when they are tolerated by public opinion and found in public places.
- *]The persons who are occasions of sin are all those in whose company we sin, whether they be bad of themselves or bad only while in our company, in which case we also become occasions of sin for them;
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JohnCatholic25
Guest
I am fairly certain that reading history books in which the author sins is not an occasion to sin to me as I dont agree or take pleasure in the sin. Is this still ok ?
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